Sana’a, Asharq Al-Awsat—Yemen’s Houthi movement has stepped up restrictions on senior government officials and tribal figures suspected of backing President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, whom the Shi’ite group has driven into exile, a high-profile Sana’a official told Asharq Al-Awsat.
The government official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the militia has placed senior Sana’a government officials, including ministers and deputy ministers, as well as prominent tribal figures, under surveillance following defections to the Hadi camp from the central government controlled by the Houthis and former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
He said: “In general, surveillance and restrictions apply to individuals linked to the General People’s Congress (GPC) led by the ousted [president] Saleh.”
A senior GPC official on Sunday directed a powerful blow to Saleh by calling for Hadi’s restoration to power and the immediate withdrawal of the Houthi militias from the areas they have controlled since September.
Saleh, who serves as the leader of the GPC, is thought to have forged an undeclared alliance with the Houthis after he stepped down from power in favor of Hadi under a Gulf-sponsored initiative in 2012.
“The party [GPC] is witnessing defections after several leading figures, who previously supported Houthis in light of their alliance with the ousted [president Saleh], have begun to change their stance over the group’s monopoly of power,” the official added.
With several government and GPC officials recently fleeing Houthi-controlled Yemen to neighboring Saudi Arabia, where Hadi has sought refuge, the Shi’ite rebel group “has increased restrictions on those still inside, constantly monitoring their homes, tapping their phones and detecting their movement and that of their families, including women,” he maintained.
The Iran-backed group has reportedly sought the assistance of Yemen intelligence officials in monitoring suspected officials.
The governor of Dhamar, Hammoud Abbad, has announced his backing of Hadi, a Yemen source told Asharq Al-Awsat, becoming the latest government official to break ranks with Saleh.
Abbad who is also a senior GPC member has announced his willingness to participate in Operation Restoring Hope, which Saudi Arabia launched in late April after the 4-week aerial campaign Operation Decisive Storm targeting Houthi positions.
According to reports published last week, Abbad had called on a former Yemeni minister to coordinate his entry into Saudi Arabia.
The Houthis appointed Abbad governor of Dhamar after they entered the southwestern province and forced its former governor to resign in late 2014.
Meanwhile, Saudi-led coalition warplanes launched a series of airstrikes near Sana’a, Saada and Ma’rib as Saleh and Houthi militants clashed with pro-Hadi Popular Resistance Forces in the south.
Ma’rib tribal sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that coalition airstrikes had pushed back Houthis militias who were trying to enter the central city of Ma’rib.